


you put your arms around me and i'm home

by ellisaco



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M, this turned out less silly than the premise would suggest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-05
Updated: 2013-06-05
Packaged: 2017-12-14 02:11:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/831517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellisaco/pseuds/ellisaco
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>"So, uh, any idea where we are?" Liam asks, because Zayn is in charge of navigation, always. Liam still sometimes gets lost in London if Zayn isn't there to steer him right. Which, like, that shouldn't be endearing, right? Certainly if Harry called Zayn up on his day off at ten am to ask where the closest ASDA to Zayn's house was, his first reaction would not be to smile at his mobile. </i>
</p>
<p>or: Zayn and Liam go on an ice cream date in Madrid.</p>
            </blockquote>





	you put your arms around me and i'm home

"Ice cream," Louis repeats, in the exact derisive, mocking tone Zayn had been expecting.   
  
Zayn wishes he and Liam could have just pissed off without saying anything, but they didn't because, like, apparently each member of this band needs to know the exact location of the other four at all times. ("We should get fitted with homing beacons," Louis had suggested once, after a few (too few) pints. "One Direction, assemble, haha." Zayn honestly isn't convinced he'd been joking.)  
  
Louis is still talking. Louis is _always_ talking. "How very primary school chic of you."  
  
"Gelato," Zayn corrects, because the distinction is important.   
  
"The best gelato in Madrid," Liam puts in helpfully, bouncing on the tips of his  toes, anxious to get going.   
  
Harry looks up at Zayn and Liam, from where his head is rested in Louis' lap, with wounded eyes. "I like gelato." The 'why didn't you invite me?' goes unspoken.   
  
Niall snorts.   
  
"Don't think they want ya tagging along on their date, Haz." he says, eyes not leaving his FIFA match.   
  
Zayn gives Niall a clap on the back, because he's the only one that's talking any sense at the moment.   
  
"Yes, well now that we've checked in with mum and dad, how 'bout we head out, Li?"   
  
They head to the exit of the bus, leaving Harry and Louis to argue over who's mum and who's dad in this situation.   
  
Liam smiles and waves to the fans congregated behind the gates, even walks over and takes a t-shirt that a girl is insistent he give to Harry. He always goes the extra mile with the fans when it's just the two of them, in order to take some of the heat off of Zayn. Liam knows how uncomfortable the attention gets him, how caged it makes him feel.   
  
Zayn ducks his head and quickens his pace until they get to the car. Once the door has closed behind Liam, the screaming quiets to a dull background noise.   
  
Liam slides in beside him and places his hand, palm up, on Zayn's thigh, and Zayn covers it with his own. They watch the city fly by, content and comfortable in the silence after hours of hysteria. This is maybe his favourite thing about being with Liam, how they can say just as much without words. How Liam's thumb brushing along the back of Zayn's hand tells Zayn everything he needs to know, settles him in a way that not much else can.   
  
Sometimes, when Zayn is still buzzing after a show, he'll wrestle around a bit with Harry or go to a club with Louis and Niall and dance until he's burnt out. But, more often than not, it's Liam that brings him down from that high, with gentling kisses or simply a solid presence by Zayn's side while the noise in his head subsides.   
  
Now that they've hopefully bypassed all of the fans that hung around after the show hoping to catch a glimpse, Joe parks off to the side of the road to let them walk. They are met by a blissfully empty sidewalk, and Joe lets the two of them walk ahead a bit before following right behind.   
  
Zayn's hand twitches at his side, wishing he could just bridge the gap and slide his fingers between Liam's. Liam notices, because he notices everything when it comes to Zayn, like the two of them are set at the same frequency. He pats Zayn's hip, a light, reassuring touch that has Zayn straightening up, walking with a bit more purpose.   
  
He's almost hiding his smile behind his hand before he remembers that it's just him and Liam (and Joe ten paces behind them, but) and he doesn't have to pretend he's not giddy every time Liam touches him. There's no screaming girls around to capture the private moment on tape, and no Louis or Niall around to take the piss.   
  
Liam smiles back, all crinkly eyes and a flash of _we're walking the streets of Madrid and we just played a sold out show and now we're selling out stadiums, can you believe it?_ And, no, Zayn really can't fathom any of it.   
  
He nudges Liam with his hip and it says _I never would have made it this far without you_. Liam nudges him back.   
  
"So, uh, any idea where we are?" Liam asks, because Zayn is in charge of navigation, always. Liam still sometimes gets lost in London if Zayn isn't there to steer him right. Which, like, that shouldn't be endearing, right? Certainly if Harry called Zayn up on his day off at ten am to ask where the closest ASDA to Zayn's house was, his first reaction would not be to smile at his mobile.   
  
Zayn takes a cursory glance at their surroundings and realises that, actually, he isn't quite sure where they are. According to Google Maps, the gelato shop was a half hour walk away from the hotel, and accounting for the five minutes they drove, they should definitely be in the vicinity by now. He doesn't recognise any of the landmarks he had memorised from street view.    
  
"Um."  
  
In retrospect, it probably hadn't been the best idea to walk to an unknown location in a foreign country at near midnight, but Zayn had figured it would afford them at least the illusion of a normal, two-instead-of-three person date. Not being able to find the place was not part of the plan, but navigating by street signs in a foreign language is a lot harder than in theory.    
  
There's about ten minutes more of fruitless searching for the shop, in which Liam is encouraging and patient as Zayn's frustration grows. It's just that they really don't get to do this very often, right? To go out, just the two of them; no pressure, no image to uphold, no cameras to charm. Zayn wanted it to be, if not perfect, than at least good, nice.   
  
  
They end up at McDonalds.   
  
Zayn huffs out sigh--he's never able to work up anything beyond mild frustration with Liam next to him--as they queue up behind an older man that doesn't look likely to recognise them. Small victories.   
  
"Not quite where I saw this night ending," Zayn says, a self deprecating edge to his smile.    
  
"No, Zayn, it's okay. It's fine." He gives Zayn a meaningful look, eyes all wide and earnest. Saying, saying... Oh.   
  
_This is where we first met._  
  
Zayn lets out a soft laugh, because it's just like Liam to turn a fast food joint into something sentimental. Although, while there's absolutely nothing romantic about McDonalds, there is something to be said for the nostalgia of it. The memory of two kids, shy and uncertain about their place in such a big competition, just searching for somewhere to fit in. Zayn likes to think that they found that in each other that day.  
  
The girl at the register does recognise them, if the widening of her eyes as they step up to the counter is any indication. But she's older than the majority and is obviously holding herself back. She takes their order in broken English and laughs shyly, like she's not sure she's allowed, when Liam butchers the Spanish pronunciation of ice cream. She says she has something special for them and walks a way with an excited skip in her step.   
  
She comes back with two ice cream cones that are a tall, swirled mixture of chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry and hands them off to Zayn and Liam, smiling shyly.   
  
And Zayn actually doesn't like strawberry, resents its inclusion in the ice cream class, but the girl is looking at them hopefully, like their approval means the world to her. He doesn't have the heart to disappoint her by ordering something different.   
  
Liam, however, gets proper excited about it, his eyes getting all crinkly in the corners as he thanks the girl sincerely. And it's impossible to watch Liam light up like that and not instantly become happier yourself. Or maybe that's just his bias speaking, maybe Zayn is the only one whose moods Liam can affect so entirely.   
  
Zayn nudges Liam towards the exit so they can clear out before paparazzi or fans arrive. It's been a quiet outing so far and he'd like to keep it that way.   
  
"She was nice," Liam comments as Zayn tries to remember if they need to turn left or right at the upcoming intersection.   
  
He eats the ice cream with a hint of a smile on his face, like it's the gelato they'd wanted to try again since their last European tour and not crap McDonalds soft serve. Zayn licks his own ice cream absently, his nose scrunching up each time he gets a taste of the strawberry. He hands his cone over to Liam wordlessly once Liam finishes his.   
  
Liam has a spot of ice cream just above his lip, and Zayn wants to kiss it away--so he stops Liam with a hand on his bicep and does just that. Liam looks a bit surprised and giggles the way he does when he's gotten away with something.   
  
When Liam finishes Zayn's ice cream, he gets his phone from his pocket and starts typing away. He angles his phone towards Zayn so he can see what he's just tweeted. Zayn can't help but chuckle at both the tweet and the terrible grammar.   
  
"Y'know," Zayn says speculatively, "it's great that you're so easy to please. Means I don't have to put as much effort into romancing you. Maybe for our next anniversary, I'll just make a reservation at Nandos and call it day."  
  
Liam just grins because, when the day does come, Zayn's going to plan something personal and thought out--and definitely not Nandos--and they both know it.   
  
"I'm telling Louis that you said the word romancing."  
  
Zayn groans, even though Liam won't, is just keeping up the banter. "Ironically," he points out, though that wouldn't stop Louis taking the piss out of Zayn.   
  
Liam bites his lip, like he can't control his smile. "This was nice. We should do this in every city."  
  
"What, get lost and then stumble into the nearest McDonalds?"   
  
Surprisingly, that doesn't sound like such a bad idea, wandering the big cities of the world with Liam. Maybe he's never really lost with Liam by his side. He keeps the thought to himself, because it's a bit too intense to say out loud.   
  
"Yeah, yeah, something like that." Liam says, eyes sharp and focused, like maybe Zayn doesn't have to say the words for Liam to know just what he's thinking. Like maybe he's thinking the exact same thing.


End file.
